Sweet Dreams
by kora22
Summary: Simba and his friends are sent into a dream by the lioness to save Kulaani and Vitani... Of course, she isn't going to make it easy as this dream quickly becomes a nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Well, here I am... Miss me? Probably not... Anyway, you'll all be happy to know that I've started plans for Series Three. Then again, maybe you all want to kill me now... Oh, well.

* * *

**Chapter One: Force**

The morning sun had risen, shining into the den onto Simba's face. Simba flickered his eyes open, letting out a yawn at the same time.

"Ugh, I hate the morning... I'm always so tired..." He said as he stood up and stretched. He looked down at Nala in the spot next to him. He might as well get her up too.

"Nala, wake up," he nudged her, "the sun's already up."

Nala yawned as her vision came into focus and she saw Simba, "Good morning."

Simba looked around the den. Some of his friends were still sleeping, which was odd, seeing as most of them were up long before him. He also noticed that none of the adults seemed to be anywhere... There was always a few left behind to watch the cubs when the rest went out on a hunt.

"Weird..." Simba said as he and Nala walked out of the den and looked out over the Pride Lands from the edge of Pride Rock.

"Something's off here..." Nala said. "It's quiet... I don't even see any other animals out there. It's as if everything vanished."

"Oh, that's nonsense," Simba laughed. "Not everything could have just disappeared. Maybe everything is just still sleeping... Or resting. It is rather humid; perfect resting weather."

"Simba, you know that doesn't make any sense," Nala told him. "Every animal in the Pride Lands wouldn't be sleeping at once."

"Well, then what?" He asked.

"Hm... Well, seeing as I don't see _any _other animals... Or any adults for that matter... Something is going on here, and it's not right."

Suddenly, a voice spoke up from behind them, "Oh, you're right about that, princess."

It was a lioness that neither of them recognized. They had to admit, her beauty was impressive. She had a sly grin; one of evil... It kind of reminded Simba of Scar.

"What?" Simba asked. "Who are you?"

"Me?" the teen lioness asked as she walked toward the two, staring both of them down. "What's it matter what my name is? I'm just here with some... Information you just might want to know."

"Your name first..." Simba demanded. It was obvious to him that this lioness was nobody good, so odds are she wasn't to be trusted.

"Oh... Very well," she said. "I suppose that it doesn't matter if you know my name, not much you can do with that anyway..."

"Just spit it out," Simba said, annoyed.

The lioness sighed. "Fine, fine... What a feisty little cub, I like that... I'm Fuerza."

"Fuerza?" Simba said, confused. That was an odd sounding name, but there was no time to dwell on that. "What are you doing here?"

Fuerza giggled, "Do you listen at all? I said I had some information you may want to know. You should really learn to pay attention, cub; it'll do you good... Anyway, I think you know two cubs that go by the names of Kulaani and Vitani, right?"

Simba didn't like the sound of this, "What did you do to them!?"

"Oh settle down, Simba," Fuerza said, "They're just fine. They're out in the jungle... Though I can't promise it will stay that way."

"Where are they?" Nala demanded. "Tell us!"

"What would be the fun in that?" Fuerza asked. "I'm not cold hearted enough to just kill your friends outright. You have a fair chance to save them... Of course, there is one little stipulation."

"And that would be?" Simba asked.

Fuerza grinned. "This is a dream. You're asleep right now, but none of you cubs can wake up... Unless you all make it to your friends before their time is up."

"This is messed up..." Nala said. "Why are you doing this? Well, I don't feel like going over it again, but long story short... You two need to die, but since I like to have a bit of fun, I'm giving you a chance to save your friends and yourselves..."

"Ourselves?" Simba asked. "This is a dream... We can't get hurt... Or die."

"Oops," the lioness said, "did I forget to mention that? If you die in this dream, you die in the real world."

This made Simba and Nala nervous.

"Well, then why not kill us now?" Simba asked. earning a glare from Nala for suggesting it.

"Because I can guarantee you and your friends won't make it through this alive," she said. "If you really thought this was going to be easy, you were wrong... Don't worry, you'll have fun! I'll have as much fun watching you all die as I did as I twisted that poor cub Haiba into a murderer... Same with that girl Angani... Well, I'm going to take my leave. You have until midnight to get to your friends... After that, well, you can imagine. Have fun!"

Then she disappeared.

"She's been behind all these recent issues..." Simba said, walking back to the den with Nala.

"Simba, we can worry about that later," Nala told him. "We need to get the others and get to the jungle before those two get hurt."

* * *

"All of you, wake up!" Simba yelled as he ran inside. "We need to get to the jungle, now!"

"Yeesh..." Malka said, rubbing his eyes with his paws, "Could you be anymore obnoxious?"

"Huh?" Kora yawned. "What's going on?"

"We'll explain on the way," Simba said. "We need to get moving, now..."

"Ugh... Looks like another stressful day," Sora said.

"Wait... Where's Mheetu?" Nala asked. "He must not be in this dream..."

"I'm dreaming?" Haiba asked. "How come Nala and Tora aren't feeding me grapes on the beach like usual?"

"Pardon me?" Tora asked.

Simba was starting to get annoyed. "Alright, we don't have time for this. We need to get moving... Now!"

"Okay, okay..." Haiba said. "I can already tell this is going to be a nightmare."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, now we know that lioness' name. That's something. Oh, and sorry if maybe this chapter was a little dull. Things will pick up.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **So, after a huge fight with writer's block - and school - I'm back! I might be a bit rusty, but I gave it my best.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Rule Change**

"Wait, what is it we're supposed to do?" Tora asked as she and the other cubs followed Simba.

"We need to find Vitani and Kulaani in this... Dream world," Simba replied. "And if we don't do it by time it's dark... Well, let's not let it reach that point."

But... we could never find them!" Kora exclaimed. "Then we're all dead!"

"Just relax," Simba said, "panicking is going to get us nowhere."

Suddenly, there was a voice. "Oh, Simba. I see you're taking this situation rather well." It was Fuerza, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Unfortunately for you, I think I made this a little too easy... So here's what I'm gonna do-"

Malka was getting angry about the whole situation already. "Where are you!?" He yelled. "Come out here and face us you crazy bi-"

Suddenly a vine hanging from a nearby tree wrapped itself around his mouth, gagging him.

"Shut up, cub," Fuerza said. "You may want to listen to what I have to say rather than run your mouth. Where was I... Ah, yes. You see, I have freed your friends from their imprisonment, so, all you have to do is find each other and you're safe! Heck, I made this easier for you!"

"That was sarcasm... wasn't it?" Kora side.

Fuerza giggled. "Well, at least you caught on to that. Hope none of you actually thought this was going to be easier."

"Then what do you have planned?" Simba asked.

"Oh, but that would take all the fun out of this," she answered. "What would be the fun in that? Now, you all better move along... Don't worry, I'll be watching _every _step of the way..."

"Well... That was creepy..." Sora commented.

"We better move," Nala said. "Stay on guard, there's no telling what this psycho can do..."

* * *

"Why did _we _get sucked into this mess?" Vitani whined. "What did we do?"

"Nothing," Kulaani said as the pair walked through the jungle, "but I don't think that lioness cares. She's definitely nuts."

"Tsk, tsk... You shouldn't talk about others behind their back, you know," Fuerza's voice spoke up. "Not very polite."

"Neither is kidnapping innocent cubs..." Vitani mumbled. Fuerza heard her.

"Ha! You think I care how 'innocent' you are," Fuerza laughed. "You're nothing more to me than pawns to help achieve my ultimate goal. I couldn't care less if you die or not. You two are no threat to me."

Kulaani scowled. "Oh yeah? Well, I-"

"None of that magic junk you have will do you any good," she cut him off, "I know about everything that pathetic pride of yours has. If you think any of it can stop me, well, you're just a fool."

Kulaani was silent.

"That's what I thought," Fuerza said. "Now, you better get moving. Don't you want to get back to the real world?"

Kulaani growled and walked by Vitani. "Let's go..."

* * *

"Well, this has been easy so far," Malka said as the group walked along. "Maybe she was being serious."

"Oh, please..." Sora said. "Don't be stupid. I know you're new, but the rest of us know how this stuff ends up?"

Malka jumped in front of Sora. "What was that, you little rat?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "You heard me. Don't be stupid."

"Hope you like being completely blind!" Malka yelled as he prepared to lash out and Sora's good eye. Simba jumped between them before he went farther.

"Enough! Both of you!" He shouted. "In case you haven't noticed, we have a problem to deal with!" He glared at Malka. "And your senseless violence is meaningless! This is a DREAM! The injury won't be permanent!"

Malka glanced back up at Sora, who was still glaring at him. "Hmph... Whatever, let's just go."

Simba walked back ahead of the group, where Nala joined him by his side.

"I swear, I don't know why Tora ditched Mheetu for that jerk..." Simba grumbled. "I don't trust him at all."

"Same here..." Nala agreed. "His arrogance is ridiculous. I think- Hey... What's that up there?"

Simba looked ahead and saw something odd. "Oh, you have to be kidding..."

It was where the river that ran through the Pride Lands usually was, only instead of water, there was lava in it's place. Across the river, Fuerza appeared.

"You like it?" She asked. "Might not be very original, but hey, it'll kill you. Oh, and Malka, is it? Simba was right. Injuries aren't permanent here; only dying is."

The river was wide, and there were rocks sticking out in different spots in it.

"Can't we just go around?" Kora asked.

"Yeah," Nala replied, "if you want to walk a million miles."

"It looks like we'll have to cross it..." Simba said. "Oh boy..."

"Well, I'll take my leave," Fuerza said. "I'd wish you luck, but your burnt corpse would be a delight to see." Then she was gone.

Simba shook his head and walked to the edge of the river and looked down at the molten liquid. "Ohh... Where's Wildfire when you need him? We could just ride his back across..."

Simba looked out at the rocks that were sticking out, trying to plan a course across. He concluded that he should only have to make three jumps, if he was careful. After a few minutes, he prepared himself for the first jump.

"Be careful..." Nala said.

Simba gulped and looked at the lava. "Like I wasn't planning on it..."

He took a deep breath and leaped, causing everyone else to hold their breath. He landed safely on the first rock. He looked to the second and carefully made another leap, landing safely once more. There wasn't much room, but there was just enough. He just needed to make one more on the opposite bank of the river, but it was the longest. He took a deep breath once more and used all his might to jump. He just cleared the edge and was safe.

"That last jump is the hardest!" Simba yelled over to the others. "Be careful!"

Next up was Nala. She made the first two jumps with relative ease and cleared the third more than Simba had. Malka, Sora, Tora, and Haiba all were to successfully make it across.

"Phew... And I thought I was hot..." Haiba said, wiping a paw over his forehead.

Kora was the only one not to attempt it yet.

"Come on, Kora!" Simba yelled. "You can make it!"

Kora was shaking as he walked to the edge. Needless to say, he was nervous.

"I-I can't!" He shouted back. "I won't make it!"

"Yes you will!" Simba told him. "Just focus on the jumps and landing, not the lava!"

Kora gulped and got into the jumping position. He launched himself and landed on the first, almost losing his balance, but he quickly regained it. He sighed and focused on the next landing. He also landed that one. _Just one more to go... _He thought to himself. He jumped to make it safely on the other side... Except he realized he didn't put enough strength into it. The front half of his body would make it, but the back wouldn't.

"He's not gonna make it!" Tora screamed.

Simba ran over and managed to grab one of Kora's paws while he was still in the air and pull him. Simba thought he had pulled him to safety until he heard a deafening cry.

He looked at Kora and saw that one of his back paws didn't make it.

"Pull me out! Pull me out!" Kora screamed as loud as he could.

Simba quickly dragged him out and looked at his back paw.

"Oh no..." Simba whispered. Kora's hind-paw had been completely burned through. Even some of the bone was gone. "Someone get something to wrap it! Hurry!"

It wasn't long before Nala found a large leaf to wrap it in.

"Oh no, no, no!" Tora yelled. "What if he dies!?"

"He's not gonna die! We just need to get out of this place before that burn _does _kill him." Simba told her. "Haiba, you carry him, and make sure he doesn't pass out, otherwise, he might not wake up... Here or in the real world."

"Got it," Haiba said as he carefully got Kora onto his back. Kora was still writhing in pain and crying, the burn too much for him to handle.

"We need to hurry," Simba said, "otherwise, _none _of us will get out of here."

* * *

"Well, how disappointing..." Fuerza said to herself as she watched the group from afar. "I was hoping at least one of the little brats would get killed off... No matter, for I have other things in store for them... Much, much _deadlier _things. Hehehe!"

* * *

**AN: **Well... That ain't good... Oh well. Anyway, with the writer's block gone, the only obstacle I have is school, but that shouldn't cause too many issues. One good thing that did come from the writer's block of this story is a bunch of other story ideas! So, hey, not all bad, right?


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **So, after a huge fight with writer's block - and school - I'm back! I might be a bit rusty, but I gave it my best.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Terror in the Sky**

"He still awake back there, Haiba?" Simba asked. Haiba was at the back of the group, Kora unconscious on his back.

"No, I kept him awake as long as I could. Don't worry, he's still breathing..." Haiba grunted, struggling to carry Kora. "Can someone else take him? I've been carrying him for an hour now... My back is killing me."

"Oh just let me do it, you big wimp!" Malka said as he roughly bumped into Haiba, transferring Kora to his back in one motion, while knocking Haiba to the ground.

"Wow, thanks..." Haiba mumbled as he shook the dirt off himself. He continued to walk behind the rest of the group and was joined by Sora.

"I don't know about you," Haiba said, "but I'm getting real tired of Malka's attitude."

"Oh believe me, I am," Sora replied. "I don't know what Tora sees in him. Not exactly Mr. Personality."

"I know, right!?" Haiba exclaimed, "I mean, how come your sister is snuggling with him at night? Why not me? At least I'm not a hothead."

Sora just sighed and shook his head. "How much farther?" He asked ahead.

"Not much... Maybe another hour?" Simba shouted back. He looked up in the sky. "Um... What the heck is that thing?" They all looked up and saw something terrifying, and it was coming right for them.

* * *

"We're gonna die," Vitani said flatly. "This is hopeless."

"Oh, come on now," Kulaani said, "no we aren't. We just... Need to find them soon, that's all... Even though they could be anywhere..."

"Right," Vitani said, "so how do we find them, Mr. Optimist?"

"Um... I don't know," he replied. "Walk until we find them?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, there's a plan. Wish I had thought of it... Hey, what's that thing up in the sky?"

Kulaani looked to where she was looking and sure enough there was something there, flying away from them, way out in the distance. Even though it was too far away too make out any details, it was obviously something neither of them had seen before. And whatever it was, was huge. It looked like some sort of bird.

"I... I can't tell from here," Kulaani said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't look normal, and something tells me a certain lioness has something to do with it."

"But where is it going?" Vitani asked.

"No idea," Kulaani said, "though maybe we should follow it. We could be interested in where it is going, especially if Fuerza has something to do with it."

* * *

All the cubs backed up in a hurry as the creature landed hard in front of them on its hind legs. It caused the ground around them to shake. This thing wasn't anything normal, it looked more like some horrible mutation of a bird or a lion. It had the legs and paws of a lion, but its front legs were feathered and more oddly formed to resemble wings. It also had a lion's tail. However the strangest - and most terrifying - part of this creature was its face. It had a lion's head and mane, but had the eyes of a bird and a beak, which was lined with razor-sharp teeth. It let out a deafening screech at the cubs. That's when Fuerza appeared next to it.

"Why do you all look scared? Don't you like my little pet?" She said mockingly. "He's a Kituko, a creature of my own creation. Oh, and silly me forgot to feed him today... Sorry, little guy, looks like you'll have to hunt today. And I think I see the perfect meal for you right here... Have fun."

Then she was gone once again.

"Uh, shouldn't we run now?" Haiba asked. No sooner after he said that they were all off and running. The creature let out one more screech and took off after them.

They all split off in different directions, some on their own, some with others. Malka had run in his own direction, and the Kituko set its sights on him. He looked behind him and saw it flying at him. He had to get this thing off his tail somehow. Then he had an idea. Everyone else had run in a different direction that him. He could just dump the deadweight cub on his back and leave him as lion-bird food. It would be easy to convince the others it was a mistake after all.

Malka gently tipped his body and dumped Kora to the ground and kept running. That would buy him plenty of time to get to safety. The Kituko would be too busy ripping Kora's guts out.

_Kora was gonna die anyway. _Malka thought. _No sense getting ourselves killed over a dead cub._

If Malka had been more observant, he would have noticed Sora nearby, who was already racing to go get his brother. Just as Sora got there, so did the Kituko. Sora slashed it across the face, making it recoil in pain. That gave him just enough time to get Kora on his back and start running again. The Kituko screeched once again but instead of giving chase to Sora, turned around to go after the other cubs.

Now that Sora had that thing out of the way for the moment, he was able to think.

_Malka's dead. _He thought to himself. _I knew we couldn't trust him. When I find him, he's done._

* * *

"That didn't sound good..." Vitani said, referring to the screech she and Kulaani had just heard.

"That had to have been that thing we saw flying," he replied. "Something bad is going on. We need to find out what. Come on, it's not much farther ahead."

"Yeah..." Vitani said. "We're screwed.

* * *

**AN: **Well, Malka is a little rat isn't he? Not the person you'd let babysit your child. Or associate with in general I suppose. Anyway, the Kituko is actually based off something my friend and I made up once when we were bored at school. Hope you liked that chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Yeah... I really need to stop taking so long between updates. Oh well, let's get this rolling.**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Run Away  
**

"Simba, that thing is gonna find us here!" Nala said as she and Simba struggled for room in a gap under a large boulder. "We can't stay under here anyway. we have to help the others!"

"I know, I know," Simba said, "but that will be kinda hard to do from the stomach of a monster."

_Boom!_

Simba and Nala's eyes whipped forward as the ground around them shook. They could see the legs of the Kituko walking around right in front of them after its hard landing. The two cubs pressed themselves as far back as they could, hoping that they wouldn't be noticed. The Kituko stopped right in front of where they were and lowered its head to the ground, its eye staring right at Simba and Nala.

Simba gulped. "Uh oh..."

The Kituko screeched at the pair, shoving its beak under the rock to try and get at them.

"We're trapped! What are we supposed to do now?" Nala asked.

"I'll distract it," Simba told her, "you run."

"You'll get yourself killed," Nala told him.

"Maybe," Simba said, "but you'll escape. Okay... Here it goes."

Simba waited for his opening, and when he go it, he darted out from underneath the rock and under the Kituko. It took a snap at him as he ran by, but he just managed to escape its beak.

"Come and get me you freak of nature!" Simba yelled at it, trying to lure it away from Nala.

It turned around and quickly started to go after Simba, it's beak wide open and ready to kill.

* * *

Malka had finally thought he put enough distance between himself and the Kituko to stop and catch his breath. Dumping that extra load off his back certainly helped him ensure his safety. He already knew how he'd spin it to Tora. Sure she'd be devastated, but Malka would be there to comfort her.

"Not a huge loss..." Malka said quietly to himself. "As far as Tora will know, that thing snatched him right off me and there was nothing I could do..."

"Is that the best story you can come up with?"

Startled by the voice, Malka jumped a little before facing the speaker.

"Oh, Sora..." He said nervously, noticing Kora with him. "You found your brother! What a relief!"

"Oh shut up," Sora said, "I saw what you did, I'm not an idiot. You're a selfish rat, and when I tell Tora what you did, she'll tear your throat out, if I don't do it first."

"Really?" Malka smiled suddenly. "And just why do you think you're telling the truth?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Uh, I'm her brother?"

"And I'm her boyfriend," Malka said, "and you've made it no secret that you don't like me. Who's to say she just won't think you're trying to get her to break up with me?"

Sora let a growl escape his throat. "I should just slash your throat now..."

Malka just laughed off his threat. "Go ahead, runt. But you know as well as I do that you wouldn't put your sister through a tragedy like that."

Sora turned around, he just wanted to get away from Malka. "If you ever do anything like this again, I will end you, no matter the consequences."

* * *

"Simba!" Nala yelled as the Kituko sped towards Simba.

Simba started to run, but his paw got caught on a tree root sticking out of the ground, causing him to fall on his back.

"No!" Simba cried, frantically trying to get back up, but his panic made him keep stumbling.

The Kituko was closing in, its sharp beak ready to slice through the cub's flesh. Simba shut his eyes, unable to get away, waiting for the moment to come... Until he heard something else.

"Gotcha!" Haiba yelled as he leaped out of the tree. He landed right on the Kituko's face, sinking his claws into it. The Kituko started flailing wildly, trying to shake Haiba off.

"Simba, Nala, run before I lost my grip on it!" Haiba told them. "I'll catch up in a minute, don't worry!"

After Simba and Nala were a safe distance away, Haiba dragged his claws down, scratching deep into the monster's eyes before launching himself off, breaking into a sprint as his paws hit the ground. The Kituko cried and thrashed in pain, unable to see anything around it.

* * *

Haiba ran and ran, soon managing to catch up to Simba and Nala. He noticed they had managed to meet back up with Sora, Kora, and Tora. They appeared to be in the midst of a conversation.

"Why do you have Kora?" Tora asked her younger brother with worry. "Where's Malka? Is he okay!?"

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine," Sora said disdainfully, "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Here I am!" Malka said, walking toward the group.

"Malka!" Tora exclaimed as she ran over and nuzzled him.

Malka and Sora exchanged glares, making the tension between them extremely clear.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that them over there?" Kulaani motioned in front of him.

"Yeah, it is!" Vitani exclaimed. "Let's hurry and get out of this nightmare."

"Hey, guys!" Kulaani yelled as the duo ran toward the group, but before they could reach them, something large crashed down in front of them.

Kulaani looked up and pinned his ears back. Looking down on he and Vitani through bloody eyes was the Kituko, and it wasn't happy. It let out one of it's deafening screeches and prepared to attack.

* * *

**AN: Okay, I plan on having this story finished today so I can finally be on to the next on, so expect a second update later. **


End file.
